The Oilers could have used a whole lotta Rosie, that is Michael Rozsival. The thirty four year old defencemen finally signed, inking a deal with the Chicago Blackhawks. Reportedly the deal is for one year at two million dollars. Good deal for the Hawks and the Oilers lost out.

Big ups to our main man @21bam21 for sending us the classic video above.

Bad news just seems to be raining down on the OilersNation doesn't it? First the lockout dominates our every waking thought as our beloved sport is put in jeopardy by the very same rich people who make their living from us enjoying our beloved sport. Then news that Randy Jackson isn't leaving American Idol after all. Then news yesterday of an alarming exchange between Daryl Katz and City Council.

I haven't heard one word from Daryl Katz or anybody associated with Rexall Sports suggesting the Edmonton Oilers will leave town if the team doesn't get a new arena. That's not a card that needs to be played in negotiations with the city. That doesn't mean it’s not in the deck as a possibility.

(This was originally published at NHLNumbers, but I felt it warranted wider distribution. The rest of the series will be published at NHLNumbers.)

So, just why are we on the brink of yet another NHL lockout? This graph provides a pretty good explanation.

But not many are really digging into the financial ins and outs of the NHL's internal economy. Instead, there's plenty of finger pointing going on between the two sides, by the media, and among the fans. Especially the rabble on Twitter, whose "uninformed ramblings" are inconsequential to the outcome, according to NHL deputy commissioner, Bill Daly. And in truth, he's quite right. He just doesn't have to be so rude about it.

But that's for another post on another day with altogether more amateurly hand-drawn charts. Today we're sticking with good old Excel as we go inside the NHL's finances; or at least a reasonable facsimile thereof, as compiled by our good friends at Forbes in their annual list of NHL team valuations. What do the financial performance metrics tell us about what differentiates the winners from the losers in today's NHL?